


Maybe Vampires Aren't so Bad

by AssassinsAndAngels



Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Defeat of Alduin, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, He Realizes He's In Love With Her, Romance, Vampire Dovahkiin, Vilkas Being an Asshole (Elder Scrolls)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:01:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25981027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AssassinsAndAngels/pseuds/AssassinsAndAngels
Summary: Before Driftshade he didn't like her. Then they were fine, until she cured her beast blood to become a vampire. That irked him. But of course he gets curious, and when his brother refuses to give answers to him he has to actually talk to her... and maybe reevaluate his opinion on her. Maybe.
Relationships: Female Dovahkiin | Dragonborn/Vilkas
Comments: 9
Kudos: 28





	Maybe Vampires Aren't so Bad

“You shouldn’t have fucked with my family.” The scathing words that came out of her mouth weren’t unusual (according to Farkas and Aela) but they shocked him just the same. Sifina pulled the battleaxe over her head before swinging it down, the man cleaved in half from the waist up. Making a face, she pulled it out, wiping the blood on a spare rag from the table. 

She picked up the pieces of Wuuthrad, wrapped them in a small towel, and shoved them into her bag before sliding down into the chair at the head of the table, lifting one leg over the arm and letting out a depressing sigh. Vilkas watched her as he sat down on the bench next to her, her breathing was ragged as she leaned back. 

“He’s gone.” She said quietly, opening her eyes. He blinked, a frown now forming on his face. “He’s gone and I could have been there.” 

“We all could have done better.” He replied gruffly. “What were you out doing anyways? The old man wouldn’t have sent you on a mission for nothing.” She smiled wryly before reaching into her enchanted bag, pulling out a cloth that seemed to have five balls inside it. A moment later, he was hit with the smell.

He had been around decomposing bodies before. While it was gross, it didn’t have the same magical smell that went along with it, and he immediately recoiled. She chuckled before shoving them back inside her bag. 

“Glenmoril Witch heads. We found your cure.” She raised her eyebrows, gauging his reaction. 

“Oh.” Was all he said. She watched him for another moment before standing up, placing her battleaxe in her back sheathe. 

“We’ve delayed his funeral long enough.” She was back to being the businesslike Bosmer that he knew. He nodded, following her out the door. She wrinkled her nose over the Silver Hand leader, before reaching down and yanking a necklace from his neck. When he looked questioningly at her, she shrugged. 

“Might fetch me a fair price.” She grinned at him before shoving the door open. She didn’t spare any of the corpses on the floor a second glance as she rushed out. Vilkas followed her, wondering why he had asked her to come with him on this journey. 

“You’ve been looking at her differently recently.” Farkas commented, being not so sneaky as he stole a hunk of bread from his brother’s plate. Vilkas cuffed him lightly on the back of the head, but let him keep the bread. 

“Of course I have. She cured her beast blood only to become a bloodsucker! Not to mention that skeletal horse of hers!” He protested. It was no secret that Vilkas didn’t approve of their harbingers decision to become a different type of beast. Aela and Farkas had both given him a firm scolding when he brought it up in front of everyone, so he was trying not to say anything to her. 

“Have you asked her why?” Farkas asked quietly. Vilkas paused. Of course he hadn’t. He shook his head, a wave of shame rolling over him as Farkas shook his head. His brother seemed to be disappointed in him a lot recently. 

“Why did she do it?” He asked quietly, but Farkas shook his head. 

“Not my place. But for such a smart person you’re being an idiot, Vilkas.” Farkas narrowed his eyes. “She has more roles than just harbinger.” Vilkas blinked. 

“What do you mean?” Farkas rolled his eyes. 

“Ask her yourself. She’s in her quarters.” Farkas replied, before standing up and walking into his room. Frowning, Vilkas decided to follow his advice. Leaving the ale he had been nursing on the table, he walked straight into her quarters without knocking. 

Sifina was cleaning that damned bow of hers. It glowed an unnatural amount, and while Vilkas had only seen her fire it once, the explosion that followed the arrow was unforgettable. There were two quivers of arrows on the table next to her, one filled with blood tipped arrows, and the others seemed to be glowing. 

“Vilkas. You have impeccable timing.” Sifina didn’t glance up as she addressed him. “I’m leaving Jorrvaskr at your command for a while. I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone, but since you won’t be able to reach me at all I decided to make sure you know.” She said, finally looking at him. Her eyes glowed in the unnatural way that suggested she was not a true Mer. 

“Know what?” His throat was dry as he saw the Wolf Armor she typically wore thrown onto the bed in the next room, replaced by a glass set that she was currently wearing. He didn’t know she could use light armor. As he looked around, he noticed her battleaxe was gone too, replaced by a smaller glass one that had a red hue around it, suggesting it’s enchantment. 

“You’re the next in line for harbinger.” She stated. He blinked. Why did that matter? Where was she going?

“Why tell me this now?” He asked. 

“Because I’m going somewhere that I may not come back from. I ride for the College of Winterhold tomorrow at dawn first. There I will name the next in line for archmage if I never return. Then I go to the Dawnguard castle to pick up a dear friend. From there, I’m afraid my plans must remain a secret.” She replied. 

“So you might be leaving us to die and you won’t even tell us why?’ He glared at her, surprised to hear her actually chuckle at this. 

“You’ve never seemed to care enough to learn my reasons before. You’re so quick to judge, yet you don’t ask why I do things.” She accused, glaring right back. “My heart tells me to name Farkas as the next harbinger. My head tells me you’re the one capable of making the hard decisions.” She took a step back before sitting down, back to polishing her bow. Her heart. Those two words struck him as out of place. 

“You’ve never ruled with your heart before.” He sat down in the chair opposite of her, not oblivious to the annoyance that was beginning to radiate off of her. 

“Exactly. Which is why I chose you. Aela will wish to continue the beast blood, and Farkas tries to see too much good in people. You will do neither of those things, but you will listen to their council.” It made sense. She was right, he decided. 

“Why did you cure the beast blood just to become a vampire?” He asked suddenly. Her eyes flicked to his, then back down again as she seemed to scrub just a bit harder. 

“It is not my first time being a vampire. I cured it for the first time just before coming here. I was with the Dawnguard. We stopped a plot to hide the sun.” She held up the bow. “This is Aur-iel’s Bow. With these,” She picked up an arrow with blood at the tip. “I can hide the sun for an hour. And with these,” She traded it for one of the glowing ones. “I can create an explosion that does damage directly from the sun.” 

“That doesn’t answer my question.” He said quietly. She glared at him in a way that told him to hush before continuing. 

“I can’t tell you why, but along the way I had to either become a vampire or be partially soul trapped. Being partially soul trapped means I would lose almost half of my strength, and I needed it all. The vampire option only enhanced my skills. Now I find myself needing to be a vampire for a similar reason, so I am. I find that I don’t mind. I don’t feed often, and when I do it’s on animals.” She explained. 

“And the bow?” 

“The bow itself holds the power to hide the sun. If the vampire who wanted it had gotten it…” She shuddered. “We would all be dead.” Vilkas nodded slowly. “I would appreciate it if you would send your brother in. We have a few things to discuss as well.” Vilkas nodded, before standing up and walking out. 

Farkas solemnly nodded when he was told Sifina needed him, but went nonetheless. Vilkas found himself wondering why he had never bothered to ask her questions before.

“Here. Move your feet like this.” Vilkas watched as Farkas patiently taught the little girl how to use the tiny dagger she held. The day Sifina left, his brother had marched to the Gildergreen and brought the girl -Lucia- back into Jorrvaskr and had spent the past week teaching her various methods of defense. 

The scar on the little girl’s face told the story better than she could. Her parents were dead from the war, and if he had to guess she would have been too if she hadn’t been so young. Or lucky, as the scar seemed to suggest. When he asked why Farkas did it he just mumbled an excuse. Vilkas knew it had something to do with Sifina, but he knew that with his brother prying was more likely to get you a black eye than an answer. 

Farkas’s laughter tore him from his thoughts, as the tiny little girl had him in a headlock. One that Vilkas knew he could get out of whenever he felt like it, but it was funny to watch all the same. When Lucia let him go she giggled too, and Farkas sent her back inside to get something to eat. 

“When did Jorrvaskr become a daycare?” Vilkas grumbled. He knew she wasn’t that young. Tiny, but her maturity made him think she was probably fourteen or fifteen. Farkas frowned at him as he sat down. 

“We lived here when we were younger than she is. Besides, she’ll make a good warrior. Has the heart and the stomach for it.” His brother retorted. 

“And the arm?”

“We’re working on it.” Farkas glared at him. “You could stop sulking for a moment and have some fun. It’s Sifina. She’ll come back.” He said suddenly. Vilkas felt as though someone had just dumped cold water on him. 

“What?”

“When we were in Dustman’s Cairn we got cornered by about seven silver hand. I couldn’t transform so soon, but she threw her axe to the side and got out a smaller one. It was glass, and seemed to seep the life from them as she used it. She used the axe in one hand, and shot flames everywhere with the other. She has a dirty mouth, too. She was yelling all sorts of risque things at them before she relieved them of life.” Farkas smiled at him. 

“What does this have to do with me?” He had a feeling he knew where this was going, and he didn’t like it at all.

“She will come back. I don’t know when, but she will. Serana will be with her, and that pair is unstoppable.” Farkas continued as if he hadn’t spoken. Vilkas wrinkled his brows in confusion. Who was Serana? “She’s the vampire that turned her.” Farkas supplied. “Pretty. And powerful. The pair work as if they were two halves of a whole, using their weapons and spells to drain the life of their enemies. And the nasty Shout Sifina uses…” Farkas shuddered. “That has her victims knocked to the ground far faster than I ever would want to be.” 

“Shout?” Vilkas asked. Could Sifina Shout? Probably not. Only the Dragonborn could Shout. And the greybeards, or Ulfric Stormcloak. But they were natives of Skyrim, and Sifina was from Morrowind. 

“Ysmir’s beard, brother. Do you not pay attention?” Farkas exclaimed. Vilkas guiltily shrugged as Farkas shook his head. “The woman is the Dragonborn! She takes down dragons like they’re nothing! And she really only uses three Shouts, but they’re amazing to watch. She uses one to drain the life from them, as I mentioned, one to shoot fire from her mouth, and the other rip the soul from them. It’s how she enchants her weapons and armors.” Farkas grinned. “It’s amazing to watch.” 

Vilkas could recall the many times she had taken Farkas with her on her travels. She always took him or Aela. Once he had seen her leave with Athis. But never him. He frowned to himself. Was he really that rude to her?

“Don’t pout. If you ask I’m sure she’ll take you with her.” Farkas said. Vilkas just shrugged. 

“Why didn’t she tell us this?” He asked. 

“She told Aela and I. Probably didn’t tell you because of the way you’ve treated her. Before Driftshade you were a dick. Then afterwards you were fine, but when she came back a vampire you were a dick again.” Farkas accused. Vilkas knew he couldn’t argue, it was true. He wasn’t the nicest to her. 

“Oh.” Was all he said. He knew he should be better, if not as a Companion, as a friend.

“If she’s not going to fucking listen, then I’ll make her!” The profanities that Vilkas could hear that night were definitely coming from Sifina. He heard a door slam, and then open and close again as another person followed her. 

“Just let me talk to her!” The other young woman’s voice was soothing. Vilkas made to get out of bed, but was stopped by his harbingers next words. 

“If Valerica wishes to remain in the Soul Cairn so be it. But she has no right to tell me that Durnheviir shouldn’t be in Tamriel. He is loyal to me.” Sifina said. “I have bigger problems than your mother, Serana. For instance, Vilkas seems to think eavesdropping will give him the answers he so desperately seeks.” The door opened quickly, hitting the wall with a bang. Sifina was nowhere near it, however. She simply stretched out her hand. 

“Harbinger.” He greeted, somewhat sheepishly. 

“Serana, you can stay in Vilkas’s room tonight. He won’t be needing it.” She said. He wanted to argue, but the tone she used left no room for argument. Serana- who he was displeased to find was another vampire- simply nodded, walking into his room. 

“”Harbinger, I-” He was interrupted by Sifina grabbing his arm and pulling him up the stairs and out of the Mead hall, landing them behind Jorrvaskr. She led him into the Underforge, then back out through the tunnel. 

“Get on.” She said cooly. He was about to ask what to get on when she muttered something under her breath, and her skeletal horse appeared in front of her. Sighing, he climbed on. Sifina sat behind him, but it seemed the horse seemed to know exactly where they were going. They found themselves going down towards Falkreath, and he was surprised when the horse turned off of the trail, leading them to a large manor. 

“What are we doing here?” He asked quietly. 

“I needed to get out of Jorrvaskr. And I needed to talk with you.” She said, not elaborating. She dismounted, leaving him atop the horse alone. Feeling more than a little confused he followed suit. 

“What did you need?” He asked. 

“I need you to stop eavesdropping on me ina an attempt to… whatever you’re trying to do.” He opened his mouth to argue, but she held up a hand to stop him. “I don’t care. Serana needs her rest, and I can’t have her in my quarters for some delicate reasons, so you can stay here for the night.” She said quickly. 

“Alright.” He said after a moment. My apologies. I’ll quit the eavesdropping.” She nodded sharply before leading him into the house. 

“What are you doing out here?” Ever since the night at her manor, things had been different between them. He stayed out of her business, and for whatever reason she told him more. Some of it was bad, some of it was good. He had been irked to know that she intended to stay a vampire, but he knew she had her reasons. So they became friends. 

“I’m looking at the stars and pretending I’m up there with them.” She said, and he could tell she was trying not to sound dejected. “They’re so pretty. I wish I could be that high up and that pretty from afar.” She giggled slightly, and it was then he noticed the bottle of mead next to her. He frowned. She was drunk. 

“I think you’ve had enough.” He said, reaching for the bottle. She slapped his hand away. 

“No. Not enough. I won’t have had enough until I stop worrying, and that won’t be for a long time.” She took another swig, her eyes unfocused. Vilkas studied her for a moment. Her glowing eyes seemed dimmer, and the frown she held told him that this was no pleasure drink. 

“Why would you worry?” 

“I’m worried about Lucia. I’m worried about the College. I’m worried about Serana. But can I tell you a secret?” She leaned in closer than he had expected her to, and he tried not to let it startle him. “I’m worried about us.” She giggled as if she had just said the funniest thing in the world before taking another large gulp from her mead. 

“Us?” He echoed. She nodded, eyes locking onto his. 

“I worry if being Harbinger will stress you out too much. I worry that I’ll fail before I die. I don’t want to be the reason Tamriel suffers. I don’t want to fail.” Another swig, and she broke the eye contact. Vilkas let the word swirl around in his brain for a moment. 

“You’re Harbinger.” He said plainly. 

“Not for long.” Was the reply he got. 

“You’re going to fight him again.” He replied. It was not a question, it was a statement. She was going to have to fight Alduin again, and she thought she wasn’t going to live through it. But that wasn’t what she was worried about. She was worried that she wouldn’t kill him, too. He looked down to find that she was looking at him. 

“I leave tomorrow evening.” She said. “I fly to Sovengarde on the back of a dragon.” She laughed. 

“So that’s what everyone was buzzing about in Dragonsreach. You trapped one there.” She nodded grimly, finishing the bottle. To his surprise, she didn’t reach for another one. Instead, she laid down, resting her head in his lap. 

“Yes. But first, a nap.” She said, and before he could reply she was asleep. He sighed, but began running his fingers through her soft hair. 

“No.” He said as he continued his ministrations. “You’re going to win, and you’re going to come back to us. To  _ me.”  _ It was then that he realized he was in over his head with the Bosmer currently sleeping on him. 

“Drem! Peace! The Dragonborn has prevailed!” A red dragon came down from the side, ignoring the archers that attempted to pelt him with arrows. It landed atop Jorrvaskr, much to his annoyance. It had been three weeks since Sifina had left. It had been three weeks since he had gotten a proper night’s sleep. 

“Are you the dragon that took her to him?” He called up to it. The dragon turned, regarding him carefully. 

“Yes. And I will bring you to her, if you wish.” The dragon bent it’s head, and Vilkas had to summon all of his courage to climb onto it. He frowned as the dragon took off. It was much higher than he had expected.

He was surprised to see another dragon at the top of the mountain, watching over her sleeping form. He jumped off of the red dragon even before it had landed, scrambling over to her. To his relief, her chest was rising and falling normally. In fact nothing seemed out of the ordinary, save for some bruises and scrapes. 

“She will sleep for days.” The green dragon said carefully. “Odahviing will take you back to Whiterun with her.” Vilkas nodded, picking up her sleeping form and got back onto the red dragon, this time ready for the flight ahead. 

“Vilkas?” He turned to see Sifina standing in his doorway. He motioned for her to enter, and she did, closing the door behind her. “May I speak to you?” He nodded. She had only woken up three days ago, two days after she arrived back in Tamriel. He couldn’t decide if she looked stronger or tired. Perhaps both. 

“What’s on your mind?” He asked quietly. She took a deep breath. 

“I did defeat him.” She said. It was common knowledge, but she said it all the same. He decided she looked tired. Her eyes gave it away. 

“How many profanities did you scream along the way?” He jibed. She smiled, but it didn’t light up her face the way it used to. 

“Far too many. I think I called Alduin a ‘Stupid Fucking Wyrm?' He didn’t like that.” Vilkas chuckled. 

“I’m glad to hear you haven’t lost your touch.” He smiled at her. 

“Vilkas?” She bit her lip, and seemed to lose her train of thought. He raised an eyebrow, and she blinked. Once, twice, and then she was catapulting across the room, landing her lips on his. 

His hands immediately went to her waist, and all coherent thoughts flew from his mind. Whatever he had thought she wanted when she came to his room, this was not it. Not that he was complaining. Sifina ran her fingers through his hair, eliciting a small gasp from him. He pulled her closer, unable to think about anything but her. 

Too soon it was over, and she was on her feet again, standing just in front of him as he sat dumbfounded. She bit her lip again and he could see the slightest hint of her fangs showing. While that used to repulse him, now it made him happy. Happy to see her happy. 

“I should have told you before I left, but I was too drunk to the night before and if I had told you that morning I wouldn’t have gone.” She said quickly. “But somehow along the road I’ve fallen in love with you.” She said it quickly, as if getting the words out faster would make it more true. She looked uncertain, but he just smiled, pulling her down to him. 

“I fell for you too.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. So this is because I have MAJOR writers block on my other story but got oddly inspired to write this while playing my current play through. Based on it loosely. But anyways. I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Also do y'all want me to start writing other pairings? If so let me know and I will. Vilkas is just easiest to write because he's my favorite ;)


End file.
